


Legally Swan

by Klynn_stormz



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Captain Swan - Freeform, Emma is awesome, Eventual Captain Hook | Killian Jones/Emma Swan, F/M, Humor, I love captain swan - Freeform, It's got way more characters that what I posted, Love, Movie: Legally Blonde (2001), i got carried away
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-11
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-01-27 11:15:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21391237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Klynn_stormz/pseuds/Klynn_stormz
Summary: Emma loved Neal, and she was going to prove it to him by going to Harvard Law. A few wrenches get thrown in the plan with crazy teachers, an attractive 3rd year, and a wild murder trial. But Emma Swan could handle anything, she hopes.
Relationships: Captain Hook | Killian Jones/Emma Swan
Comments: 12
Kudos: 57





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I watched Legally Blonde the other night and got a little carried away. Lol I hope you like it, let me know what you think. I love to hear comments. I hope it's good. If it works out I will update every Sunday.  
I own nothing but my imagination, your find some pretty familiar lines too :)

“He is totally going to propose tonight!” Ana squealed. “He’s is taking you to The Grande Restaurant!”

“We need to get you something to wear!” Rapunzel cried.

Emma grinned at her two sorority sisters. It was their final year of college and her boyfriend Neal Johnathan Cassidy IV was taking her to the best restaurant in the city. He said he had something important to talk to her about. When she had gotten the text, she had run to the sorority house to tell everyone the news.

Now while Emma looked the part of a sorority girl, after spending a bit of time with her you would never guess, nor understand why she chose to be a part of one. Emma Swan had grown up in foster care till she was 16 when she was adopted by the wealthy Ingrid Winter. She never expected to be adopted, let alone by someone like Ingrid, but it was the best thing that could have happened to her. Ingrid sent her to the same university she herself had gone too. And insisted that she could choose whatever major she wanted, as long as she joined a sorority. 

“You need to make friends Emma,” Ingrid had told her. “what better way to do that than a sorority?”

Truthfully Emma had found it a bit tedious in the beginning. She had joined at her mom’s request, didn’t really put much effort into getting to know anyone, but the girls were determined. And with a lot of pushing and begging, she eventually joined in their activities and found that she actually liked it! She found there wasn’t anything wrong with liking nice clothes, and shoes, and most of the girls in the sorority were actually pretty smart. Her major was fashion merchandising because that’s what her mother had done and it seemed like it worked out pretty well for her. She finally found somewhere she mostly fit. 

When Neal came into the picture two years ago, she had fallen hard and fast. Everything was going perfectly with them; he was planning on becoming a lawyer like his father and his fathers’ father; so, she thought that a proposal was just around the corner with him leaving for Harvard the next year. 

“A summer wedding would be so perfect.” Ana commented on their way to shop. “Like he could go into college with a wife, and you would be Mrs. Neal Johnathan Cassidy IV! It’s perfect!”

“He hasn’t proposed yet Ana.” Emma reminded her.

“Oh please, what else is he going to do?” She responded.   
\---  
They went to three different stores before they found one that seemed a good place to start. She tried on every dress imaginable, in every possible color. “I’m thinking red is your color!” Rapunzel said. “That way you blow him away!”

The store clerk, who had been eavesdropping looked at her co-worked and whispered “I love a dumb blonde with daddy’s money to spend.” She grabbed a dress from their clearance section, ripped the tag off and walked towards the women.   
“I have the perfect dress for you! This one just came in, it’s the newest on DeVile’s line.”  
Emma turned and raised an eyebrow. “Oh! It’s a new DeVile? And it has a button down back with a draped skirt?”  
The worker smiled. “It’s one of a kind.”  
“Yeah it must be.” Emma agreed before giving the worker a bored look. “DeVile hasn’t done a button down back since 2010, and her draped skirts are so much more elegant. This is clearly a Jameson and I saw it in Vouge two years ago. If you’re trying to sell it to me for full price, well, you’re wasting your time.”  
The girls laughed at the chagrin on the girls face and left the store to keep searching. Eventually they found the perfect dress! It was a pink backless dress; it had a deep neckline and thin straps over the shoulders. Emma loved it.  
\---  
Neal arrived five minutes late to the sorority house, which was pretty usual for him. He had on a light gray suit and dark shades, even though it was eight at night. He stood in the foyer grinning at the passing girls, checking out more than a few. When Emma descended the stairs, his eyes widened with lust.   
“Hi beautiful.” He purred. “Ready to go?”  
Emma smiled and agreed. She glanced back at her sisters, they gave her thumbs up and huge smiles. 

The drive to the restaurant was quiet, nerves danced in Emma’s belly but she pushed them down. She was ready for this. After arriving and being seated they began to talk about their days, mostly Neal’s day. His family was very overbearing sometimes with all their expectations of him. 

“So, honey, I wanted to bring you hear to talk about my future.” Neal began when their food came.

“I am fully amenable to that.” Emma grinned.

“This has been a bit of a whirlwind few years, and it’s been so fun. But now that I’m getting ready to go to Harvard, I need to get my act together. I need someone who is going to stand by me and be there for me.”

“Of course.”

“So… Sweetie, Emmy.” He leaned over and grasped her hand. Her heart raced. “I think we should break up.”

“Yes!” Emma spoke at the same time, before everything came crashing down. 

“Wait what?”

“Well, I’ve been thinking a lot about this and it just seems like the right thing to do. I need to be with someone who has their life together Ems, someone with the same goals as me.”

She could only stare at him in shock. 

“I mean if I want to run for office someday, I need a Jackie, not a Marilyn.”

“You’re breaking up with me because I’m too pretty?” She shouted; diners began to turn their way in concern.

“No, it’s not just that Sweetie. I mean, my family name means something, you know? Could you imagine if I married you? You don’t really have any family and that just won’t go over well in my circles, you know that. I mean you are only in college because of Ingrid, and your major is in fashion merchandising. That doesn’t scream smart and prestige.” He seemed confused that she didn’t understand his reasons.

Emma’s mind spun and she felt a little sick. “You’re…” Her voice trembled, now most of the diner’s eyes were on them, with a mix of horror, anger and fascination. “Let me get this straight, you are breaking up with me because I’m too pretty, not smart enough, and an orphan?! Is that right?” Tears began to stream down her face of their own accord. She wiped at them angrily. “We’ll have a good life Neal.” She turned on her heel and stormed out. 

The restaurant looked to Neal who looked more put out and embarrassed than he had a right to be. The glares and mutters from women made him decide to pay for the check and at least try and take Emma home. It was a fairly long walk after all and seemed the least he could do. 

Emma walked home as briskly as her four-inch Prada heels would let her. The entire conversation kept repeating in her head, and with every re-run, the tears came quicker and her breaths turned to hiccups.

“Sweetie, get in the car.” Neal’s Audi convertible slowed down to a crawl next to her. “Please, it’s cold out and too far to walk.”

She shook her head and kept going.

“You’ll ruin your shoes.” He wheedled. 

She stopped, looked at him, and took off her shoes before continuing down the street barefoot. Neal gave up and drove off. 

A month later Ana and Rapunzel were whispering outside her door.

“I can hear you both.” Emma called out crossly.

They both shifted and walked in. The normally tidy room was a mess. Dirty clothes piled in the corner, junk food wrappers on the ground. Emma lay in her bed watching some depressing soap, occasionally chucking pieces of chocolate at it when a romantic scene came on. Her chihuahua Henry curled up by her side, trying to comfort her. 

“Oh honey, you are a mess.” Ana blurted out. Emma glared at her before turning her attention back to the screen. 

“You need to leave your room! You haven’t been out in weeks except for classes.” Added Rapunzel.

“I know just what you need!” Ana claimed. “Put on something clean and put your hair up, the grease is really showing.”

Emma rolled her eyes but finally obeys, they wouldn’t leave her alone till she did.  
\---  
As they walked out of the sorority Ana grabbed a few girls and ordered them to clean up Emma’s room, she needed something nice and clean to come back to. 

At the salon they got their hair done, Ana knew it was much needed seeing Emma’s greasy hair. They were in the middle of their manicures, talking to everyone about Emma while her nails dried. 

“She didn’t wash her hair for over a week! A week. It’s crazy!” Rapunzel said. “And her cuticles were just a mess. I think she even wore a sweater from Wal-Mart the other day! Can you imagine?”

Emma listened with half an ear as her friends gossiped, she always found it amusing. The older lady next to her had the new Vogue magazine so she was stuck with DailyNews. As she flipped through it, she landed on a page that caught her eye. Harvard Law Graduate making waves with charity work. She read the article, it was about a young woman who had graduated from Harvard Law and was getting married to a wealthy man, she was smart, charitable and kind of pretty.

“This is the kind of girl Neal wants.” Emma exclaimed to the woman next to her. 

“I could be this girl! If I go to Harvard then maybe I don’t need to have a family for him to love me!” Before anyone could answer she rushed out of the salon. 

When her friends found her later, she was in her room studying on her computer. 

“What are you doing?” Rapunzel asked, concerned. 

“Girls! I’m going to Harvard!” She announced proudly.

“What like on a trip? Can we come? Road trip!” Ana squealed. 

“No, I’m going to Harvard Law, that’s the type of girl Neal wants! If he sees that I can do that then he will definitely fall for me.” She explained. 

“You shouldn’t have to change for a guy! Like he should love you no matter what.” Ana stated frowning.

“I love him.” Was all Emma could respond with. The two girls looked at each other and shrugged. 

“Well if you’re going to do this you need this!” Rapunzel handed her a hair clip.  
“Your clip?” Emma asked touched. 

“My lucky clip! It helped me pass Spanish first year.” She winked. 

Ana raised an eyebrow. “You passed Spanish because sat in the front row with no bra for the whole semester.”

Rapunzel scoffed. “Yeah, luckily.”

“Alright girls, let’s find out what it takes to go to Harvard.” Emma grinned. This was the right path; she could feel it in her bones.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright everyone, here is the second chapter. We get a bit more background about Emma in this one, hopefully a little more depth. I hope you all enjoy it. Let me know what you think in the comments!

Her counselor stared at her in disbelief. “Harvard, you want to go to Harvard?”

“Not Just Harvard, Harvard Law.” Emma corrected smiling. 

“Okay, you want to go to Harvard Law. One of the most prestigious universities in the nation. That Harvard Law.”

Emma nodded brightly. This was going to work.

“You realize it is one of the hardest places to get into.” The counselor asked concerned. 

Emma stared at her; did she not think Emma knew what she was doing? “I know, I have a 4.0 GPA.”

“Yeah, in Fashion Merchandising. This is Harvard.” She paused and took a deep breath. “What are your backups?”

“I don’t have any backups. I’m going to Harvard.” Emma replied firmly. Her face was determined.

Sighing the counselor knew she was in for a ride with this student. “Okay, you will need excellent recommendations from your professors, an absolutely fantastic admissions essay, and at least a 175 on your LSAT.”

Emma’s heart squeezed; she could feel the excitement bubbling through. “No problem.” She was ready to study till her eyes fell out. First stop, the library.  
\---  
Once upon a time Emma had been all alone. She didn’t know what family was, what friends were, or what love was. Moving from foster home to foster home had taken a toll on her ability to trust, to let people in and show them her true self. It had taken a few years before she had even given Ingrid that opportunity. When people looked at her the first thing, they saw was her hair, they assumed she was easy to manipulate; she knew every blonde joke anyone could come up with, and so she decided to play into that stereotype. People didn’t need to know that she was smart, that she had feelings and a hard life, she only wanted them to see what she wanted them to see, it made it easier to keep them at arm’s length. 

Ingrid had changed a lot of that. She had seen through Emma’s act almost immediately, and didn’t any of Emma’s crap. It had thrown her for a pretty big loop, to have someone all the sudden caring about her, and Ingrid loved her. With Ingrid she learned how to love, though she still struggled sometimes with letting people in. Hell, even Neal only saw her as a pretty dumb blonde obsessed with designer things and playing her way through college. She supposed that had been her mistake, letting him only see that side of her for so long. But not all of it was a lie. As a foster kid, one doesn’t have many personal belongings, especially if they’re moved around a lot. So, they learned to hang on to what they had with dear life.

Her stuff was not something that Emma took for granted, though she now lived in wealth she didn’t cast things aside. She found that she loved clothes, shoes, accessories, anything she could wear really. Her favorite item was her designer red leather jacket, she took it everywhere with her. Anything she viewed as sentimental she held onto like a dog with a bone. Occasionally it would be time to do some cleaning and clear out her horde of items, she always made sure to donate them to foster homes. Everyone deserved beautiful things. Her mom had taught her about fashion, helped her find her style. And when Emma had balked at the color pink at first, she had insisted that anyone could like pink, you didn’t have to dress drab to be serious. 

“Really Emma, you’re judging again, anyone can wear anything they want. If you want to wear pink then I am going to buy you the damn shirt, it won’t affect your snark, I promise.” Ingrid had seen Emma eyeing a pink blouse with white flowers on it, but when she had suggested she try it on, Emma had sneered. Trying the shirt on Emma had felt beautiful.

So, Emma took to fashion and clothes faster than anything else. It was one of the biggest factors in her decision for her major. For a long time, Emma had wanted to be in law enforcement. When she was 8 years old, she had lived with a foster family who seemed nice enough, but they had left her at a park when taking the rest of their family on a picnic. Emma had only gotten there a week prior and didn’t know how to get back, so she sat on the swings and watched as it got darker and darker. Then, out of the blue, a nice lady had approached her and asked her if she was lost and where her family was. In the way of children, she explained that she didn’t have a family, but the one she was living with had left her there. The officer pulled out her badge to show Emma, and helped her find her way home. She had told Emma fun stories of being a police officer, Emma had never forgot it. She wanted to be like the officer and help people who needed it.

However, as graduation got closer and Ingrid’s and her relationship developed, Emma wanted to make her mom proud. Deep down she was sure that Ingrid wouldn’t have cared what her major was as long as Emma was happy, but she still had that fear of being cast aside, so she chose what had bonded her and her mom the most. Clothes.  
\---

Pulling up to her home she thought about her first time pulling through the gates. A lot of the foster homes she had been in hadn’t been well off, in fact quite a few had just been fostering for the small stipend the government gave them to take care of the children. Seeing the large looming house, with a long winding driveway and the biggest yard she had ever seen. The house was at least 3 stories, a beautiful pristine white with navy blue shutters on each window. A garden wrapped around the entire house and even the edge of the property. Emma had thought it was something out of a fairytale at the time, and there was no way she believed that Ingrid would keep her. But she did, and became Emma’s closest confidant and her mother. 

“Mom, I’m home.” Emma called from the foyer, one of the cleaning ladies let her know that Ingrid was out by the pool. She ran to her room and grabbed a swimsuit to join her, might as well keep her mom at ease while having this conversation. 

“Emma!” Ingrid cried. “I’m so happy you’re home for the weekend, it is for the weekend, right? We have so much to catch up on.”  
Emma smiled at her mom, “Yep, home for the weekend. We haven’t had much time since the semester started.”

“And since that dolt Neal happened.” Ingrid added, she had never liked Neal. “I do hope you dump him before you graduate, he is the worst kind of person and doesn’t appreciate you enough.”  
Emma winced, might as well dive right into it. “Neal broke up with me.”

Ingrid raised her eyebrows. “When? Darling are you okay, I know you cared for him.” The sharp turn from annoyance to concern lightened Emma’s heart a little. 

“I’m okay, he- he broke up with me because he’s going to law school.” Emma paused, trying not to choke up at remembering the conversation. “Told me he needs someone serious, smart, with a good family.”

“He did WHAT?!” Ingrid shouted; her face turned red. “How dare that ignorant moron tell YOU he needs someone smart. The man needs someone to do is laundry for heaven’s sake! And he has the gall to talk about…” Ingrid couldn’t even finish. She had leaped from her deck chair and began pacing around the pool muttering. 

“I’m going to ruin him!” She declared. “If that idiot thinks he can insult my daughter and get away with it he has another thing coming.”

Emma decided she should probably interrupt now before her mom started planning Neal’s murder.

“I’ve decided to go to Harvard.” She blurted. That gave Ingrid pause, she turned to look at her daughter curiously.

“What?”

“I’m going to Harvard; I’m going to become a lawyer.” She said with more conviction.

“Why?”

Emma blinked. “Why?”

“Why did you decide this?” Ingrid asked.

“Well, I-I wanted to go.” Emma shuffled. “It’s a perfectly respectable career, and you know I’ve always wanted to do something to help people.” 

“But why now? Emma, I know that you chose Fashion Merchandising because you thought it would make me happy, I had hoped eventually you would be comfortable enough to do what you wanted. But I can’t help but fear that this is a reaction to Neal breaking up with you and him going to Harvard. You know I can see right through you, tell me the truth.” Ingrid’s eyes pierced into her.

She closed her eyes for a moment. “You’re right, I want to prove to him that I am worthy.”

Before her mom could interrupt, she hurried on. “I want to prove that I am good enough for him. Mom he doesn’t think that I’m smart, or serious. This will be my way to show him that I am. And then maybe, maybe he’ll take me back, he’ll realize he made a mistake.” When she was finished Ingrid walked over and hugged Emma tight. 

“I’ll support you.” Emma started; she hadn’t expected it to be that easy. “But not for him, I believe in you Emma, I’ve always known that you were meant for greater things that just fashion, and you are going to show him what he missed. But you know what?”

“What?”

“You’re not going to take him back, you are going to realize that you are too good for him, that you deserve someone who loves you for you, not because you changed. I have a feeling you’re going to find yourself at Harvard, and finally see that you are worth more than Neal could ever understand.” Ingrid meant every word; her daughter was going to see herself how Ingrid saw her. 

Emma wasn’t sure how to react, relief had swept through her at Ingrid’s support, but she wasn’t sure how to convince her of Neal. It would have to wait, she decided, she had plenty of time to deal with that later. 

“Now, how can I help?” Ingrid asked. Emma began to explain to her all the requirements her counselor said she would need.  
\---

Emma hired a tutor to help her study for the LSAT’s. She skipped sorority parties, dances, most every social event over the next few months in favor of studying. While her sorority sisters didn’t fully understand why she would want to do that, they supported her. There helped time her during their workouts, they helped her focus when she was distracted. She had never thought she would have such a group of support, and she didn’t know what she would have done if she hadn’t had it. When the time came for the exam, she was so nervous she was sick that morning. Her sisters helped her clean up, get ready and Ana and Rapunzel waited outside the building while she took the test. 

Since she wouldn’t know her score for at least three weeks, Emma decided to focus on her admissions essay. At first, she had no idea what to do, she knew she needed to stand out from other applicants. She talked to her mother about it and got the idea to do a video for it. Her mother hired a professional videographer, her sisters helped choose outfits and write the script. She had even googled was made a good admissions essay. She felt a little ridiculous making the video, but her mom and sisters had convinced her it would be fantastic.  
Video:

“Hi, my name is Emma Swan and for my admissions essay I am going to tell you why I am going to be an amazing lawyer.” Emma stood in her favorite red leather jacket, white blouse, and slacks.  
“As part of a sorority I am skilled in group settings as well as working on my own. I am skilled at commanding a room, fighting for change, and good reasoning.”   
The video cuts to a sorority meeting Emma leads about the change they want for curtains. One shot briefly showed Emma punching a guy in the face for peeking through the windows of the sorority, before going back to the meeting.  
“It’s come to my attention that the drapes in the front room are see through at night we have enough to deal with without adding in creeps coming around, all those opposed to peepers say ‘aye’.”   
The whole room agreed and the next shot showed the drapes being changed.  
“I have a fantastic memory.” The screen now shows her the grass with a friend sunbathing.  
“Emma, do you remember what happened on the Good Place last season?” The video pans out as Emma explained the season finale.  
“I am comfortable using legal jargon in everyday life. I enjoy challenging others on their views.” There was a wolf whistle in the background and Emma turned to confront the man.  
“In conclusion, I believe in helping everyone, I want to make a change in the world. As a foster child most of my life, I learned that everyone deserves a chance. My mom took a chance on me, taking me in. Now I ask you to take a chance on me too. Because I can guarantee that I will be an amazing asset to Harvard, and an amazing future lawyer.”  
\---

Emma still wasn’t too sure about the video, the more she watched it the more ridiculous she felt. Would they even take her seriously? She voiced her concerns to her mother, who responded.  
“It’s not about taking you seriously, they’ll see that in your grades and your score, this is about showing them who you are and setting you apart from the rest of the applicants.” After that talk she calmed down. 

Then her score for the LSATs came. She had been at the sorority home most of the day, studying, exercising and trying to distract herself. A scream came from the front of the house, causing her to rush to see what the commotion was about. When she saw Ana waving an envelope frantically in the air while squealing and jumping up and down, hear heart stopped for just a moment. This was it. Emma rushed down the stairs and shakily tore open the envelope. The girls who were in the house had surrounded her, chattering excitedly. Taking a deep breath, Emma pulled out the letter and stared, then she screamed.

“179!!” 

The rest of the girls screamed and cried. Everyone congratulated her and they began to plan a party right away to celebrate. 

With her score in hand and her admissions video edited, she submitted her Harvard application as quickly as possible. Now she just had to pray that the board would see that she was meant for this.   
\---

In a room in Harvard the board sat quietly. They had just watched Emma’s video and weren’t quite sure what to do.

“It’s different than anything we’ve had before.” One of the members put it.

“She has a 4.0 GPA and a 179 on the LSAT.” Another chimed in.

“But she’s a fashion major.” Another argued.

“We’re always looking for diversity.” The first responded.

“Her charity work and extra curriculars are impressive.” One admitted.

“I think we should take a chance on her.” The last in the room spoke up.

The head of the board turned to the screen, a still of Emma smiling confidently at all of them.

“Emma Swan, welcome to Harvard.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma is getting ready for Harvard, and she's about to meet a special someone!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been so long! I'm sorry darlings! It wasn't the best idea to start a multi chapter story during the Holiday Season, lol. I should be posting normally in the next few weeks, but in the mean time, here is the next chapter! You'll see more of a divergence from the movie here, it just seemed like the right direction to go. Let me know what you think, and enjoy!

Emma looked around the small dorm room; it was bigger than she was expecting it to be, but still the size of a closet, a twin bed sat on side of the room, facing a small window, the closet made her cringe and think that it was a good thing she had packed light. She didn’t care much about the size, she’d slept in smaller accommodations before, and honestly, she had this gut churning excitement coursing through her. Here she was a Harvard, holy shit she was a Harvard, she had done it! She had hoped and dreamed about it, but she always had that sliver of doubt that it would not go in her favor. But she had done it and now she was here to prove herself. She thought back to her mom’s final words to her before she got in her little bug to drive cross-country to Cambridge.

“I know you have an idea of why you are doing this, but please try to put yourself first Emma. Make sure that you are happy rather than trying to make others happy.”

She understood her mother’s reluctance to accept that she was doing this for Neal, and maybe she was doing this for herself as well, she just needed to prove to her that Neal was worth it. Because he was, wasn’t he? Emma has met him her first year at UCLA, they had been together for a while and just  
seemed perfect. So, what if he told her things she needed to fix about herself, he was just trying to help  
her be a better person. And sometime he was annoyed if he felt she had bested him on something, it  
was just his pride, it wasn’t a big deal when he put her down. She already knew most of what he told  
her was true anyway. 

She wasn’t the prettiest without makeup or good clothes, he just wanted her to look her best, there was nothing wrong with that. He thought she wasn’t smart, he had told her that before he broke up, but if she ever tried to show him, she was smart, he would get angry and say she was just trying to one up him. She stopped trying to show him. The dumb blonde act wasn’t hard to keep up when people  
expected you to be that. She was certain that this would show him who she was and how perfect she  
was for him.

“Henry, are you ready to become a lawyer?” She asked her little dog, he perked up and barked at her,  
obviously agreeing.

When Emma had been with Ingrid for about six months, Ingrid had noticed she was showing symptoms of anxiety. It wasn’t until she witnessed a bad anxiety attack of hers that she finally convinced Emma to go to a doctor with her. When she was diagnosed with a severe anxiety disorder Emma felt even more broken than she had before. The doctor recommended medicine to help her through the attacks, and even suggested a service dog to help her during the attacks; she has shown reluctance to the first and interest in the second. Ingrid had immediately gone online to find the best service dog providers and with all permissions filled out she had gotten Emma dog who had recently completed training. Henry didn’t seem like much, he was tiny and pretty scrawny, but Emma had fallen in love on site, and vice versa. 

Since then they were inseparable. It had been nerve-wracking trying to make sure that they would accept her bringing Henry to Harvard with her, of course by law they had to, but service dog laws were still minimal, and most people assumed that she was just using that as an excuse to drag her dog  
everywhere with her. Since getting Henry and finding the right medication her anxiety attacks had been  
reduced drastically. While she still had them, they weren’t as debilitating nor painful as they had been.

She was taken out of her thoughts by another bark from Henry, and she got to work on unpacking her room. It was two days before the semester would officially begin, all of her books were out, she was trying to make sure she had done all the reading required for each class before they began. A lot of the language was hard to understand at first, but she was starting to get the hang of it. Once she was all unpacked she relaxed on her bed to watch a few Netflix episodes she has missed, but after a few hours she felt restless. Maybe it was time to do some exploring around town.  
\---  
It was a college town, so there was some nightlife, but it was tame compared to what she had dealt with at UCLA. She found a small bar at one end of town called the Rabbit Hole; it wasn’t crowded but it wasn’t dead inside either. After ordering a beer and finding a quiet booth in the back, she pulled out one of her textbooks and began going over the reading for her first-class tomorrow, Law & Ethics. 

It was with a teacher named Professor Elsa Arendale; Emma had looked up reviews for her on a rate my professor site. She seemed harsh, cold even, with most of the students saying if you didn’t have the right answers she would kick you out of class. Emma did not want to be kicked out on her first day, and with her luck it would happen, so she was going to be prepared as she could.

“I don’t think studying is the best option at a bar on a Saturday night love.” A smooth British voice interrupted her studying.

“Not your love.” She replied automatically, not moving her eyes away from the textbook.

“Well then, I’ll need a name to call you by.” He responded; his cheerful voice seemingly not affected by her ‘back off’ tone.

“Look, I’m really not in the mood to deal with a man who assumes I need company because I’m all alone in the bar.” She sniped back, finally turning her eyes towards him.

Everything froze for a moment when her eyes met the most gorgeous vivid blue ones she had ever seen. He had a square, slightly stubbled jaw his mouth was stretched into a beautiful grin, one of his eyebrows was raised as she took him in. His dark hair brushed at his forehead, it made her want to run her fingers through it and see if it was as soft as it looked. Taken back by her thoughts she blinked and tried to focus.

“Well? Can I get a name now?” He asked. “I might just keep calling you love.”

“You’re going to stick around long enough? Really?” She asked, suspicious and not really liking his overall pushiness. 

He shrugged before replying. “Not if you really don’t want me too, you looked stressed while reading and I thought I’d see if I could make you smile. I’d say I’ve almost accomplished it.”

She held back a small smile and gave in. “Why not?” and gestured for him to have a seat across from her. 

“Killian Jones as your service.” He smiled and again she was struck by just how gorgeous it was. 

“Emma Swan.” She finally conceded, much to his apparent delight.

“Swan, it suits you. Now what in the hell are you doing at a bar on a Saturday night with law textbooks?”

“I don’t know you well enough to give you my life story, but I’ll tell you it’s my first year at Harvard and I’m trying to make sure I’m prepared, but I needed to get out of my room for a bit.”

“Ah, that makes much more sense. When I’m not saving damsels in distress, I’m getting ready for my final year.” Killian gave her a crooked smile.

“Hey, the only one who saves me is me. In fact, I’d go as far to say that you are distracting me from my purpose.” She glared at him.

He put his hands up in placation. “Love, you were about to die of boredom or a migraine, I couldn’t very well let that happen! Besides, now that I’m here I can give you inside advice on the teachers you’ll be dealing with.”

“Let me see your schedule.” Killian said, holding out his right hand. Emma rolled her eyes, but thought it would be nice to have a little more information from a senior who had probably dealt with most of the teachers she would meet. Pulling it up on her phone, she handed it over. He scrolled through, one eyebrow raising as he saw her classes. She already had it memorized:

7am-9am MWF-Ms. Elsa Arendale: Law and Ethics  
9:30am-10:30am MWF-Mr. Isaac Print: Legal Research 101  
11:15am-1:30pm MWF-Mr. Robert Gold: Complex Law & Politics  
8am-11am TTH- Mr. Graham Humbert: Criminal Law Introduction  
12pm-2pm TTH- Ms. Ruby Lucas: Civil Law

“Wow, you’ve got some good ones. In fact, most of these will probably end up being your teacher through the rest of Harvard.” He commented. 

“So, what can you tell me about them?” She asked, trying not to seem too eager.

“Well, Ms. Arendale is a hardass, she rules her class like a kingdom. Make sure you are over prepared for her, if not she’ll have no qualms kicking you out. She doesn’t tolerate people with no drive, so you’ll need to make sure you try to speak up every class. Mr. Print is, well, creepy. I honestly don’t know why he’s a teacher for law, he’s much more interested in news and politics than anything else, sit in the back in his class, he tends to lisp and spit.” He gave her a crooked grin, which she returned. “Mr. Gold hires four interns for his law office every year, so fight hard to make your case. He expects to see hard work, and likes a little blood in the water between classmates. Last semester he actually had a fist fight break out in one of his classes, he didn’t try to stop it, let them fight till one was unconscious. While the student was carried out by a few of her friends, he proceeded to lecture us about being prepared to go to war to prove your point. He doesn’t have any ethics, no qualms as long as he wins.”

Emma shifted uncomfortably as he related this information. He caught it and quickly backtracked. “He’s not the worst person, he’s just… well,” He paused for a moment to think about it. “he’s like a crocodile. Just waiting for some unsuspecting creature to get close enough to snap.”

“I thought lawyers were supposed to be sharks.” Emma joked.

“Oh, most of them are, rest assured. But him, he’s different. Sharks go on the attack pretty fast, and most of the time their pray knows they’re after them. But crocodiles, they’re a quiet kind of dangerous. He doesn’t attack till he knows he can win. He has deep pockets and a lot of sources to keep him on top. Don’t let your guard down with him. And don’t give up on that internship, it’s the most coveted here, it pretty much guarantee’s you will have job offers when you graduate.”   
Emma tilted her head. “Did you get the internship?”

“I did, worked bloody hard for it too.” He spoke proudly.

“So how about the rest of the teachers?” She asked.

They got into a discussion about the rest the teachers she would have, which turned into recommendations for next semester, then his favorite classes. He tried to ask a few questions about her but she evaded them like a pro. It was getting late, time to go get some sleep, and Henry was probably missing her. 

“I better get going.” She announced, gathered in books and standing up. He stood up as well and she was a little surprised that he walked out the door with her. 

“May I walk you to your dorm milady?” He asked with that crooked grin, it made her heart stutter for a moment before she shook it off. 

“Oh, so now you’re a gentleman.” She asked a little flirtatiously. 

“Darling, I’m always a gentleman.” Killian responded, his tongue flicking across his lips. 

“I can handle myself. Thanks for the help tonight.” Emma said, and walked away.

“See you around Swan.” He called to her, making her smile at the nickname.   
\---  
“I don’t have time to mess around Henry! I can’t get distracted by some guy.” Emma was pacing her room after returning from the bar. Henry barked and she rolled her eyes. 

“Yes, okay, he was attractive.” Henry barked again. “Oh my gosh stop pushing! He was funny and interesting and maybe he didn’t see me as just a blonde. But none of that matters! I’m here for Neal remember? I’m going to prove to Neal that I’m good enough for him.”

She could almost see Henry roll his eyes. Great, she had no one to talk to but her dog now. She needed to sleep. Her room was all unpacked, she had studied, and she had had a fun night. Should could admit that to herself privately. 

The next day was boring as well. Emma caught up on all reading for the classes, reading a few of the cases and quizzing herself to make sure she understood. She felt ready to go take on Harvard and show Neal who she was.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! I finally finshed this chapter, sorry it took me so long. I've already started on chapter 5 so that should be up next sunday (cross your fingers) anyway, this chapter might be a little shorter because I ended up splitting up part of it into chapter 5. Here is Emma's first day at Harvard. Let me know what you think!!

If Emma hadn’t looked at the map a million times she would have been lost. While the buildings weren’t as spread out as they could have been, it was definitely confusing to figure out which building was which. Her first few classes were close to each other; the Austin building and Hastings and the last class was across the campus in Everett. Once she got to the classroom so lingered outside, she was half an hour early, not wanting to be late on her first day. Without much to do, she settled against the wall and opened her book, wanting to make sure she was prepared one final time, for any questions that came her way. 

She heard him laugh from down that hall, and her body froze, she recognized that laugh, Neal. Her heart began pounding as she tried to remember the plan. Stick with the plan, her mind shouted, while the rest of her wanted to leap up and talk to him right away. No! Let him come to you, she reminded herself. She wasn’t desperate, she was proving herself capable. She moved her focus back to her book, while reading over an Aristotle quote and trying to figure out what it could mean, a voice, his voice spoke. 

“Emma?” Neal asked incredulously.

She looked up from her book and let the shock of seeing him show on her face. She honestly thought he might ignore her for a little bit, it was such a Neal thing to do. Pretend you weren’t there until he couldn’t ignore it anymore, but he went straight to the point. 

“What are you doing here Ems?” He asked, looking so confused she almost wanted to laugh.

“Oh, I go here.” She responded as calmly and nonchalantly as she could.

“You go here? You… Emma Swan… got into Harvard?” The disbelief in his voice put her defenses up.

“What, like it’s hard? Anyway, I have to go, I have class in ten minutes.” She made it sound derisive and tired for his usual condescending tone. She would have walked away right there, had he not grabbed her arm to keep her talking. 

“You… you, Emma Swan. Are going to become a lawyer? And you think you can really do that. Really?” He was laughing in disbelief and she felt a surge of anger swell in her. She had known he hadn’t believed she was smart, but the condescending tone was too much. The voice in her head was screaming. End the conversation, end it and walk away, her mind chanted. She turned and walked into Law and Ethics with Professor Arendale. You knew he thought you were dumb, she reminded herself; you’re here to prove him wrong.   
\---  
To say Professor Elsa Arendale was intimidating was an understatement. She stood at the front of the class with an unreadable expression, as students filled the seats. Her cool blue eyes took in the classroom with an icy chill. The Professor’s white blonde hair was pulled into a severe bun on top of her head, she wore a black pantsuit that gave her lean body longer lines, and heels the color of her eyes with stiletto points. Emma found a seat closer to the door, not in front but not in the very back, she didn’t want to seem too eager to learn, nor did she want to convey that she didn’t care. She had spent hours figuring out the best spot to sit in all of her classes. Killian had certainly helped her make the final decisions.

She shoved him out of her mind for the moment; she could not be distracted. Quickly she pulled out her notebook and turned her textbook to the page listed on the board. Everyone around her was pulling out laptops, and suddenly she felt underprepared. Her laptop was an old one she’d had since high school. Ingrid had tried to get her a new one but she clung to this one pretty hard. There was no way it could handle going to all of her classes. 

The clock hit 7am and the professor moved from her position to pace the length of the classroom. Everyone fell silent, watching her with equal parts nerves and intrigue. Silently she turned to the board and began to write. The Law is reason, free from passion. When she had finished writing she surveyed the room and finally spoke. 

“Can anyone in this room tell me who said this famous quote?” Her voice was a cool as the rest of her.

A few hands shot up, one more eager than the rest. He was a quirky looking man, curly brown hair down to his shoulders, a small nose and thick eyeliner around his eyes. He wore tan kakis (like most of the population there), a white button-down dress shirt with a purple plaid vest over it, but the most striking of his features was the top hat he wore on his head. It was the same color as his pants, with a ribbon folding over it in the same color as the vest. Emma was impressed with ingenuity in the matching clothes, for anyone else it might have looked laughable, but on him it worked perfectly. The professor didn’t blink an eye at his outfit, merely pointing to him to answer. 

“Aristotle said that.” 

“Are you sure?” Professor Arendale asked?

“Um—Yes ma’am.” He seemed to falter at being questioned. 

“What’s your name?” She asked.

“Jefferson Hatter.”

“Alright Jefferson, you are absolutely certain of your answer?” She asked again, when he nodded a little nervously, she continued. “Would you be willing to stake your life on it? What about the lives of your classmates?”

The question threw him, and everyone else, off. “Um— I…” Now at a loss for words, Jefferson sat back.

Professor Arendale smiled at him. “You are correct, by the way.” At his sigh of relief, she chuckled and moved back to the board. 

“Throughout the rest of this semester, and hopefully the rest of your schooling, you will be contemplating what this quote means. I will not be telling you what to think, nor what to believe. You’re first assignment will be to write a five-page essay on what you believe this quote means. I expect you to be ready with your paper by the next time we meet.”

That froze Emma for a moment, a day, just one day to write a five-page paper? She was so screwed. Class went by quickly after that, with everyone typing—or writing in Emma’s case—as fast as they could, trying to keep up with all the phrases and information thrown at them. Her mind was whirling with all the new information, but for some reason, even as she felt the stress and nerves, she was loving it. Okay maybe she wasn’t loving the homework aspect, but what she was learning was fascinating. 

Legal Research as also fascinating. As she learned what information was necessary for suits, where to find information, and the best way to put it together. She did receive as much homework for that class, but it was still a bit, luckily it wasn’t due until the next week. That class passed quickly as well. She had a little bit of a break before her next class, so she found a bench in the courtyard to just sit on and people watch. It helped relax her mind and gave her a moment to go over everything she learned and start filing it away. Someone sat down on the bench perpendicular to her, causing her to glance up, then double take. It was Killian, from the bar.

“Hey, Killian right?” She asked tentatively. He looked up at her and grinned. 

“Emma! Fancy running into you here.” He teased. She smiled slightly, relieved at finding a familiar face. “How are you doing lo—Swan?”

“You’re learning.” Emma laughed. “Good for my first day, two classes done and one more to go. I already have homework up to my eyeballs thought.”

“Welcome to law school.” He replied cheerfully. “If you need any help let me know. I’m a TA for two of the classes here, and a part time intern as well.”

“Thanks, but I can take care of— “He cut her off.

“Of yourself, I know Swan. It’s just an offer. Who’s this little guy?” How was he so aware of her that he knew when to change the conversation. 

Henry had come with her, as her service animal she could bring him anywhere with her, he had his own little purse that she carried him in for when she had to go places that normally wouldn’t allow dogs, not many people noticed him and that meant less confrontations. Killian saw his service animal harness and asked if he was working, she nodded and rather than trying to pet him he began to ask questions about her day.

She moved to the same bench he was on and they talked for the next few minutes over classes and homework. How did she feel so comfortable talking to him? Even with Neal she always felt on edge talking about things she enjoyed. And she normally let him lead the conversation, so it rarely turned towards her. Killian was different, he was constantly asking her questions about herself—granted she did sidestep most of them—and made her laugh. She was still wary of him, not quite sure why he would want to talk to her, but he was funny and definitely not creepy like a few of the guys there. They were having a conversation about Marvel, Emma having seen his Iron Man sticker on the inside of the backpack he had, when a throat cleared behind them. 

“Ems.” She turned and saw Neal, who was glaring at Killian. 

“Neal, hi.” She tucked her hair behind her ear.

“Can we talk a moment?” He asked, still glaring. 

“Um, sure.” She turned to Killian. She didn’t want to leave him hanging to talk to Neal. “I’ll see you later yeah?” Once he nodded, she turned back to Neal and waited for him to speak. 

“I wanted to apologize for the way I acted this morning.” He gave her a half grin that looked more like he was cringing at his apology than anything else. “You just took me off guard. I never expected to see you here.”

“It seems you didn’t expect a lot of thing from me.” Emma said, not giving an inch, and trying really hard not to cave back into flirting with him. If she was going to prove anything to him and make him respect her, it was certainly not going to be by being the giggly blonde he thought she was. 

“Anyway, I was hoping we could catch up and talk.” He looked hopeful and even a little… well flirtatious. Emma really didn’t expect him to do this right away. She opened her mouth to agree, encouraged by they way his hand lingered on her shoulder and the gleam in his eyes. 

“Neal! Sweetheart!” A woman’s voice pierced through the haze, Emma turned towards the sound and her heart dropped. Her skin was a beautiful hue of smooth chocolate, her long black hair was twisted into a bun at the base of her neck, with a few loose hairs falling around her face, she was tall and curvy, her smile blasted at Neal like a lighthouse signaling a lost ship. Taking her in, Emma felt small and insignificant. 

“Tamara!” Neal grabbed the back up his neck and glanced between the two of them. Tamara didn’t even glance at Emma, her full attention on Neal. 

“I’m done with classes for the day!” She looped her arm through Neal’s and began to talk. “Most of the classes were pretty boring, but of course Professor Arendale is my favorite, she doesn’t take any shit. And oh my gosh you wouldn’t believe it, there was this blonde girl in my class that was totally not dressed appropriately, she was wearing a red leather jacket and heels. Heels Neal! I mean she didn’t even bring a laptop or tablet to class. She definitely won’t last long.” Emma cleared her throat; aware Tamara was talking about her. When she turned to look at Emma, she looked affronted.

“Oh, you’re the girl, Neal this is the girl I was talking about!”

“Tamara, this is Emma Swan, my—” Neal began and trailed off, not sure where to go from there. 

“Oh, Emma Swan, you’re the college girl Neal dumped. What are you even doing here?” The snobbish tone to Tamara’s voice set Emma further on edge. 

“Um Emma,” Neal hesitated. “This is Tamara, we knew each other growing up and well—” Tamara cut him off.

“We met up again a few summers ago and now we’re engaged.” She practically shoved her left hand in Emma’s face. She recognized the ring immediately. It was Neal’s grandmother’s ring, he had showed her once, saying how it would be the ring he would use for his future wife. She had thought it was a hint at the time, she was wrong. Then Emma clicked into the rest of what Tamara had said. 

“How long have you been together?” Emma asked, anger rising. 

“Emma, calm down.” Neal responded. 

“Of a few years now.” Tamara grinned. “You really shouldn’t be angry; I mean it’s not like you two were together anyway. And even if you were, well it’s not important.” She shrugged and looked at Neal. “Are we going to go eat?” Neal let her tug him away. 

Emma stood there watching them go, feeling equal parts stupid, and ashamed. She could feel the anxiety rising, so she picked up her bag, where Henry had been quietly laying, and ran.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at me posting two weeks in a row! And I even have a bunch of chapter 6 written, I am on a roll! Anyway, here is the next chapter of Legally Swan, let me know what you think :)

She wasn’t sure where she was running too until she was inside the salon. It was roughly 10 minutes from campus, a smaller stand-alone building on the street, the outside showed age, but in a cozy homey way. It had a red brick front, cracked and washed from time, a cursive open sign with a smiley face hung on the inside of the door. Walking inside, the smell of nail polish, hair color, and rubbing alcohol immediately calmed her. The salon seemed frozen in time. Stuck in the unfortunate year of 1976, blue and white checkered tiles lay across the walls, the floor the same retro blue as the tile with a swirly design that, if stared at for too long, could make one throw up or faint. The ceiling was normal, save for the harsh florescent lights and one large globe light (it was a few shiny mirrors away from a disco ball). Emma loved all of it. No one came over to greet her, so she took it upon herself to find an available technician and sit down, hands out. 

“A manicure please.” She sniffed, her heart was still hurting from the encounter with Neal and his fiancé. 

“Rough day?” The technician quietly asked. Her black hair was cut into a cute pixie cut that complemented her jaw line. She had pale skin, nearly milk white, and rosy lips. Emma noticed how kind her chocolate brown eyes seemed as she began to soak Emma’s nails. 

“You have no idea.” Emma sighed. 

“Manicures are for getting all the bad out and keeping the good in. If you want to rant to me you can, it’ll make you feel better.” Her smile was shy and soft, warming Emma, who was in desperate need for a confidant and friend. 

“Well get ready for an insanely stupid story. I’ll tell you as long as you promise to give me an honest answer on how stupid I am.” After the technician nodded, Emma began her story.   
\---  
After about an hour or so, with her nails looking fantastic, Emma was finished speaking, now waiting for the technician to say something. The woman studied Emma’s nails, finishing up the hand massage and making sure there were no flaws.

“So, in conclusion, you followed your ex, who broke up with you because he thought you were to pretty and dumb to be with him, to Harvard. You wanted to prove to him you are pretty AND smart, and maybe he would take you back. But, instead, you find that you love the classes, met a super-hot smart British, lawyer in training, found your ex was a tool who cheated on you because you didn’t count, and has a bitchy fiancé who looks like a goddess, dresses like she’s at a funeral, and has a vendetta against you for being here.”

Emma blinked. That was the perfect summary of everything that had happened. 

“Um, yeah pretty much. Sound horrible hearing it from someone else.” She felt another pang of humiliation.

“Not horrible.” The woman smiled kindly, “You wanted to feel seen and loved.”

“How did you know that?” Emma asked, stunned. What was it with the random strangers she met here reading her so easily?

“I know a little bit about that. Had someone I thought I loved, he decided he didn’t love me and kicked me out. That wasn’t the worst part though! I could handle him making me leave, but he kept my dog.” She turned her sad gaze to a picture frame on the counter, it was a picture of a little golden retriever puppy. 

“That’s horrible.” Emma glanced down at henry, who was curled up in her purse, content to watch the goings on and his person. “I can’t imagine what I would do without Henry.”

The technician smiled softly, wistfully and agreed. “It’s been nine months and it still hurts to think about my poor pup with him. I hope he’s being treated right.”

“I’m so sorry, that is the worst. I’m Emma, by the way.” Emma introduced herself. Realizing she still didn’t know this woman’s name. 

“It’s nice to meet you Emma, I’m Mary Margaret.”  
\---  
They talked for a while, Mary Margaret decided to give him a full spa treatment—besides the manicure she was getting a facial and pedicure—so they could talk more. Emma felt like she had found a close friend in Mary Margaret, someone she could confide in and laugh with. It was in the middle of them talking about Emma’s encounter with Killian that a UPS delivery man walked in the door. The change in Mary Margaret was immediate. She stiffened and tried to hide behind her hair, seemingly forgetting her pixie cut. She must have had long hair at one point, and Emma made a note to ask her that story later. When she realized that hiding wasn’t working, she turned her back to face him and made herself busy sorting through her workstation, much to Emma’s bemusement. 

In the meantime, she studied Mary Margaret’s reaction, she was definitely trying to hide from the delivery man. The man was glancing around the salon as he waited for signatures. When he saw Mary Margaret, he straitened up and a hopeful look came into his eyes. With a quick look at the receptionist, who was lagging on the signature, too busy on her phone to do much, he walked towards them. Emma was fascinated by the scene unfolding in front of her, she felt like she was watching a movie, on the edge of her seat to see what happened next. 

“Mary Margaret!” The man greeted happily. “It’s been a long time, over a year, right?”

“David.” Mary Margaret greeted quietly, nervously moving to tuck her hair behind her ear, and blushing when she realized it was too short to do so. “How are you?”

“I’m great! Picking up extra shifts at the animal shelter still, and delivering packages in the meantime. How are you? Your hair is shorter than last time I saw you.” He paused, slight worry crossing his face. “Not that it doesn’t look good, I mean really you look amazing, not that you don’t always look amazing. I mean to say it’s a good look on you, not there there’s a look that’s bad on you, and I see that you’re still doing nails and hair. Oh, that’s not a bad think though! You were always fantastic at it, I just thought I’d see how you’re doing and say that it’s really good to see you, and now that I know you’re here maybe we could catch up sometime.” Emma could see all the nerves fluttering around him as he stumbled over his words. 

“That would be um, yeah maybe sometime soon.” Mary Margaret blushed again and looked at her work station. The receptionist called for David, finally having signed for the packages, and he somewhat reluctantly said his goodbyes and left.

Emma and Mary Margaret were silent for a moment. Then Emma broke it. “Soooo, what’s the story there?”

“No story!” Mary Margaret blurted out. “I mean I’ve known David since I was in eighth grade and we were friends for a little bit. Why? Did it look like there was a story?”

Emma chuckled at the nerves Mary Margaret was showing. “It definitely looks like there’s a story. He totally likes you, and you obviously like him. What’s holding you back?”

“It’s a really long story.” Mary Margaret started to brush it off, until she saw Emma’s skeptical expression and raised eyebrow. “Fine, we still have ten minutes left on your facial.”

It turned out to be a great story. Mary Margaret had met David when she was in eighth grade, right after he had moved to the area, and they had taken to each other quickly; though not before Mary Margaret had punched him in the face for making fun of her. They had started dating in tenth grade, when they both finally admitted how in love they were with the other. Unfortunately, David had an overbearing father that loved to control all aspects of his life, so, their senior year, he had forced David to breakup with Mary Margaret to date someone from a respectable background. David and Kathryn had dated for a few years, then gotten engaged. Mary Margaret had been devastated, naively thinking that David would jump ship at 18 to go back to her. When she heard the news, she had cried, gotten drunk and ended up sleeping with a good friend of David’s. She still couldn’t look Victor in the eyes after that. 

David and Kathryn had been married for about five years before the gossip mill started turning about them not having kids and never being in public together. However, it wasn’t until their seventh year of marriage (nine years of being together), that they officially separated and divorced. Mary Margaret had always held out hope that true love, as she put it, would prevail. But it never did. Now whenever they saw each other there was this stilted awkward conversation, both desperately in love with the other yet so afraid to say it. The latter was an observation on Emma’s part, Mary Margaret convinced that David had no feelings for her anymore. She had met Lance three years before, not long after accepting that nothing would ever happen with David, and tried to move on with her life. When she saw David in town, she did everything she could to hide from him, hence him not having seen her for a year. Turned out that Mary Margaret was very stealthy.

Lance was everything she thought she deserved, and that wasn’t a good thing. Mary Margaret had grown up with a harsh step mother that belittled her and tried to control her. After the heartbreak that was David, a lot of her hold out confidence had vanished, she had found Lance, a man that played on her insecurities, verbally abused her on a daily basis, isolated her from friends and family, and when he got bored, threw her out of their house. So, there she was, without love, without family, without many friends, and without her precious dog. 

Emma listened to all of this (the story well over 10 minutes by the end) with an abject sorrow and fascination. If she was being honest with herself (something that only seemed to happened when it wasn’t about herself) she found it much like the soap operas she would watch with her mother. So many interconnecting stories, all very dramatic, but in this case, no less real. She felt empathy for Mary Margaret, and felt a kindred bond. Both of them had gone through a lot, and now were trying to make themselves better. When Mary Margaret mentioned that she wished Lance would take her back, if only so she wouldn’t be so lonely at times, Emma spoke up. 

“Don’t sell yourself short Mary Margaret, you deserve more than that kind of life. You deserve happiness with someone who loves you for you.” She wasn’t sure if that helped as Mary Margaret immediately teared up.

“Thank you, and don’t forget Emma.” She paused to compose herself. “You deserve the same. There’s always hope for a better future.”

\---  
Emma was thinking about that later that week. It was Friday night and she had gone through all of her classes with nerves and piles of homework to show for it. Her desk was currently piled high with her textbooks and books borrowed from the school library to study more. ‘You deserve the same’, Mary Margaret’s voice echoed as she reflected on her week. She knew deep down that she was right, and maybe that meant letting Neal go, but she still had to try right? She owed it to herself to keep going and to keep trying to be the best she could be. 

Her phone rang on her nightstand. The cell itself was a standard phone, but the case was something else. Ana had given her the case for her birthday, saying Emma’s phone needed more personality. It was pink, fuzzy and sparkly. Honestly, Emma wasn’t quite sure where Ana had gotten it, but it must have cost a lot, but it made her smile when she saw it. The name on the screen made her smile even more, it was Rapunzel.

“Hey! I’ve missed you guys this week!” Emma said after she answered.

“Emma!!!” She heard at least three different voices screaming her name. 

“Guess where we are?” Ana cried; her excitement almost visible through facetime. Emma couldn’t tell where they were, besides it being a clothing store.

“Where? Shopping?” 

“I’m getting MARRIED!” Rapunzel screeched, coming into view on the phone in a white gown. She was jumping up and down so much that she ended up falling off the pedestal with a loud thump. 

“What?” Emma asked, surprised. “To whom?” 

“Oh my gosh, his name is Eugene and he is the most adorable guy ever. Emma you will love him!” Rapunzel was getting up off the floor, with some difficulty due to the tight mermaid style dress. “I met him like a month ago and he was this ‘bad boy’ going by Flynn, but he is the biggest sweetheart!”

“Wow, that’s crazy.” Emma wasn’t sure what to say, she didn’t even know who this guy was and Rapunzel had only known him for a little bit. Worry for her friend temporarily replaced her own issues.

“Don’t worry.” Ana whispered into the phone after Rapunzel went to try on a new dress. “I totally had one of my friends to a background check on him, Kristoff knows this guy who knows a cop. He came up clean, Eugene did that is. Kristoff did too, but well this isn’t about him. And I put him through my tests. You know the ones where I make R like an hour late to a date or call with and emergency to see how he would react. He passed! He even let R and I drag him shopping, he sat in the mall for like 3 hours for her. I had to have a talk with R because there was no way I was going to let her marry a man she just met, not after my Hans debacle, and of course you remember me telling you about my sister and how mad she was! Yikes. But I promise he’s good! Besides, if he’s not we know how to get rid of him and you can be my lawyer! Won’t that be fun?” By the end of Ana’s monologue Emma was laughing. She had missed her friends fiercely and hearing them made everything better.

She talked to both of them for a while longer, helping critique the wedding dressed and catching up on their lives. When she hung up, she laid on her bed a stared at the ceiling. Not for the first time, loneliness swelled in her heart. She was thousands of miles away from her mother, from her friends, from her life. She tried not to cry while thinking about her family, she had had to fight for it, but somehow, she got one. What was she doing so far away from it? Then she thought about the past week and how much she was enjoying her classes, sure she met a few bumps in the road, but what was that compared to doing something she knew in her soul would be a part of her life. While trying to dispel the melancholy she heard a soft knock came on her door. 

Emma curiously moved to the door and opened it. On the other side stood a young woman in muted colors. Her hair was blonde and pin straight, she had kind blue eyes that gave away the nerves she was feeling, she wore a gray Harvard sweatshirt and simple black leggings. Shifting her hips, she opened and closed her mouth a few times before going for it.

“Hi, are you um, are you Emma Swan?” She asked shyly, her eyes moved to a point out of Emma’s vision, before returning to hers. 

“Yeah, that’s me.” Emma responded. 

“Hi, yeah, I’m um Ashley.”

“Hi.” Emma was confused as to why she was at her door. She had met a few of the girls in the dorm but they were all busy with classes, so there wasn’t much of a chance to socialize with them.

“So, with it being the new semester and all, a few of us wanted to get together and have a party. You know, one more before the year gets crazy.” She laughed, but it was a high pitch nervous laughter that set Emma on edge, especially when her eyes once again moved to a point out of Emma’s field of vision. 

“A party? That sounds fun.” Emma said slowly, wondering what was going on.

“Yeah, it’s going to be very fun. And well I wanted to invite you. I know it’s your first year and I wanted to make you feel welcome.” Ashley stumbled over her words a bit, her eyes darting between Emma and the unknown point. “It’s going to be tomorrow and well, here’s the address.” She shoved a piece of paper into Emma’s hand. 

“Um, yeah that sounds fun. I’ll definitely be there.” She was still wary about the whole thing, but a party might help her get a little bit of the homesickness gone. 

“Oh!” Ashely paused and gulped. “I almost forgot one thing.”

“Yeah?” Emma’s lie detector was flashing red in her mind.

“It’s a costume party!” Ashley tried for excitement but her voice squeaked out, breaking. “You know, something to really help everyone let loose before the whole semester.” 

“A costume party?” Emma echoed.

“Yup, so have fun with a costume, I’ll see you tomorrow night.” Ashley practically ran away as soon as the sentence finished. 

Emma took a moment to take in what just happened. She leaned casually on her door frame and moved her head minutely to see what Ashley had been glancing at, or in this case, who. Tamara stood at the end of the hall, smirking towards Emma, a trembling Ashely next to her. Emma pretended to look at the address on the slip of paper while her mind raced. Then all at once everything calmed and a grim determination settled in her. She wasn’t going to be put off by this, she was going to show them she didn’t care what they thought of her.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! Sorry for missing posting last week, I actually got into a car crash and wasn't able to do much for a while. Now that the pain is better and I'm not on heavy duty medicine I can actually write! So here is chapter 6 of Legally Swan. I hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think :)

Saturday morning, she spoke with her mom about how she was doing. She had to reassure Ingrid multiple times that she was okay and did not need her to fly there to make sure in person. Feeling fresh annoyance over the situation of the party, she confided in her mom about everything. She knew she could trust Ingrid’s opinion, and while it may not be the way she chooses to go, she needed some advice. She needed her mom. 

Ingrid listened carefully to the whole story, not interrupting or making a sound till Emma was finished. That was one of the first things Emma had noticed while in Ingrid’s care. She took the time to listen, she didn’t just let someone talk and give them a generic answer, she listened, she waited, and then she threw in her two cents if she was asked for it. Emma had never had anyone listen to her like that before. 

When she was seventeen, she had wanted a tattoo, she had laid out all the reasons for it, written down all her arguments, and gone to Ingrid expecting a fight. What she had gotten instead was a cup of hot chocolate, a girl lunch out, and an agreement that if Emma really wanted it and felt she wouldn’t regret the tattoo later, Ingrid would take her to get it. The only stipulation that had been placed on it was a two-month time frame to make sure that it wasn’t an impulsive decision. During that time Emma, with Ingrid’s help, had searched out the best tattoo parlors to get it done at. And a few months later, Emma had a silhouette of a swan on her hip.

After Emma finished her story she waited for Ingrid’s response. The longer the silence went on the more concerned she became. Henry, who had been laying on her stomach for most of the call, had gotten annoyed and Emma’s constant shifting, and made his way to the foot of the bed, turning and curling into a ball with a huff. 

“Well,” Ingrid began, bringing Emma’s attention back to her. “I guess you need to show them that they can’t intimidate you.”

“How thought?” Emma asked. “If I call their bluff and don’t show up, they’ll call me a coward. If I show up without a costume, they’ll tell make something happen to embarrass me.” Emma let her head fall to her pillow in frustration. 

“There’s one option you’re forgetting sweetheart.” Ingrid said, a sly smile curving her lips. Emma stared at her in confusion for a moment.

“The only other one would be to show up in a costume and become the joke of the school.”

“Only if you let yourself become the joke.” Emma moved to protest and Ingrid hurried on. “Tamara thinks she’s gotten on over on you. So, let her think she has, and then walk in there with your head held high. You are Emma Swan, you don’t need anyone’s approval, you don’t need anyone’s friendship. And you know it. I won’t go into the whole Neal issue right now. But anyone who makes fun of you doesn’t deserve you, and you are going to show up every single one of them, because you are amazing.  
And,” Ingrid added. “no matter what you decide you know I will be right behind you one hundred percent. You know what you want to do, Emma, and you’re brave enough to do it.”

Bolstered by her mother’s pep talk, she spent the next few hours plotting and planning.   
\---  
This honestly might be a horrible idea, the worst she’d ever thought of. Emma stared in the mirror at her costume and felt the anxiety churning in her stomach. It had been hours since Ingrid’s call and all of the confidence she had felt then had diminished quickly as the party neared. Was she going to pass out? Throw up? Oh hell this was so stupid. She shouldn’t go, she shouldn’t show up at this. She turned from the mirror, inhaling deeply, right on the edge of hyperventilating. Henry barked at her, breaking her concentration. After she had picked him up and cuddled him to her she felt much better. 

“I have to do this don’t I?” She asked Henry, who licked her face, causing her to laugh. “I do have to do this, okay, I don’t have to. But, it’s the principle! She’s setting me up and I either walk in there looking like a moron or a confident awesome person who won’t take anyone’s crap. Now if I don’t show up who knows what she’ll start saying. Let’s be honest Henry, this was a challenge! Tamara knows that I know, or she thinks I’m too stupid to realize that it was an obvious set up. So now I have to decide. Do I go to this party in a costume that will make me a laughing stock? Do I not show up and have everyone be like, wow I can’t believe Tamara reached out to be friendly with you and you are such a jerk? What do I do? I feel like I’m in high school again, this is ridiculous.” She groaned and fell back on the bed, staring at the dull yellowish ceiling while Henry settled on her stomach. Then an idea began to form. 

“Or—“ She sat up, moving a grumbling Henry off of her and going to her closet. “I could show up dressed for a party.” A few minutes of rifling through her closet produced the perfect dress. She had been planning on wearing it to her engagement party, it seemed like a life time ago. Neal was going to be there, so she might as well blow him away too, let him see what he threw away. The color was fire engine red, with spaghetti straps leading into a v to show off her cleavage in a classy way. The bodice had a beautiful folding effect, giving texture to the smooth knit fabric, and hugged her curves ending just above her knees. Once she had finished dressing, she curled her hair, applied a little makeup (red lipstick was a must with this dress), and put on strappy glittery heels to finish the look. She thought she looked amazing. Pulling out her phone she face timed Ana and Rapunzel. 

“Emma!” Ana screeched when she came on. 

“Girls, I need your opinion.” Emma showed them the outfit. And much to her joy, they loved it!

“OMG, you look hot!” Rapunzel cried, pushing Ana out of the way to try to get a better look. “You are going to knock them all dead, and Neal is going to be begging to have you back.”

Emma laughed, she decided she would tell them later that she wasn’t going after Neal anymore. Not after finding out how horrible he was, she would tell them later. They talked a little longer, when they said their goodbyes, Ana and Rapunzel sent her off with praises and confidence. 

“Alright Henry, I’ll be back in a bit.” She scratched his head, turned on his playlist (she had included all of the best dog movies and shows she could think of) starting with Lady and the Tramp, Henry’s favorite. Once he was settled, she grabbed her handbag and strode out of her room.   
\---  
The common room was mostly empty, everyone was out for the weekend, either studying, at the party, or hidden in their rooms. A few girls saw her and whispered to each other. She didn’t know if they were good or mocking whispers, but she powered on, moving out of the dorm and into the cool September air. Walking across the campus towards the party gave her the opportunity to appreciate the beauty of Boston, something about the east coast seemed to sooth her.

The trees stood tall and proud, their branches softly swaying in the night air. The leaves still had a brilliant green hue to them. Emma couldn’t wait for autumn to come, knowing she would see vibrant reds and oranges. The last time she has seen them was when she was in foster care in Maine for a few months, she had seen more trees than she thought existed, with more colors than she could begin to describe. Who could have guessed she would end up back here, in a place that seemed to call to her, and fill a part of her she didn’t know was missing?

A few houses away from the party she could see the lights on in the house, people were in the yard drinking and laughing. As she has suspected, no one was in a costume, and no one was near as dressed up as her. Here we go, she thought, one more deep breath to calm herself and she was off. The people stopped talking as she walked past, gawking at her like they’d seen a horrific crime happening. The murmurs began as she passed, she let them slide off of her, she wasn’t going to let any opinion hurt her. Walking into the house she saw a few people from some classes, one was a tall bulky young man, Anton, she remembered; another was Ashely, the woman who had invited her for Tamara, and yet another was the one with a quirky tall hat. They were spread across the front room, Anton standing alone in the corner, looking extremely uncomfortable. Ashley sitting next to Tamara near the kitchen, and Jefferson holding court through the doors in what looked like a Study or office. 

A few people had turned as she entered the house, Tamara being one of them. Emma decided to enjoy herself before confronting Tamara. She moved to Anton to talk to him, smiling kindly she engaged him in conversation and found that, though he was gruff and not the best conversationalist, she enjoyed talking to him. They talked about their classes’ together, discussed homework and the teachers. She learned he was terrified of Gold, which she could definitely understand. It made her think of Killian’s comment about Gold being a crocodile, which led to her smiling at the thought, then shaking it off because she wasn’t about to deal with that line of thought again. After Anton ended the conversation by saying he had promised to come for ten minutes and now he could go home, she moved towards the kitchen. It was time to deal with Tamara she supposed, though Emma made her work to grab her attention. 

“Emily.” Tamara called out, annoyed that Emma didn’t look all that put out about being so out of place. 

“It’s Emma.” Emma replied flatly, dismissing Tamara and grabbing a drink. When she turned around she happily found Tamara standing now, anger and embarrassment at the dismissal turning her face a dull red. “Oh hi again, Tammy right?”

“You know it’s Tamara.” She practically spat, “Nice dress by the way, dressed up like a hooker today?”

Emma decided to go with it, she reminded herself she was here to show she couldn’t be phased. “I love your outfit too, except well— When I dress up like a frigid bitch, I try not to look so constipated.” Emma walked away, committing the stunned expression to her memory. 

After about an hour of mingling with other classmates she decided she had done what she came there to do and was ready to go home. So of course, as she was heading to the front of the house, she ran into Neal. 

“Ems.” He smiled, not so subtlety checking her out. “Didn’t expect to see you here, do you want to find somewhere to talk, a little more… private?” He gave her a charming grin and she silently fumed, good to know that he was a douche to everyone he dated then. 

“Yeah, it’s a great party, your fiancé invited me!” He blanched and stuffed his hands in his pockets. 

“Anyway, how are you liking school so far? Ready to head back to Cali yet?” He asked, now refusing to meet her eyes. 

“I’m loving it! My classes are great and the professors are so interesting. I can’t wait to apply for the internship Gold will be offering in January. It’ll be great to get some experience while going to school.” Neal blinked at her response and then laughed loudly, like he’d heard the funniest joke. Emma was not amused. 

“Ems, sweetie, you don’t actually think you have a chance at the internship, do you? I mean come on, look at you. I’m surprised you haven’t quit yet, but I doubt it’ll be much longer before you do. I think it’s time for you to realize that this just isn’t for you. You need to find a man to take care of you and keep your pretty little head from floating away.” He patted her shoulder sympathetically. 

Emma stood quietly for a moment, she took in everything she heard and realized how stupid she had been to think that he could make her happy, to think that he was this perfect man who would love her forever. Well she was done being stupid, she was done being a dumb blonde that everyone seemed to think only existed to be a trophy wife. Straightening her shoulders, she stood tall and met his eyes. The fire that she felt burning in her must have showed in her eyes as Neal took a step back. 

“You don’t think I’m ever going to be good enough for you, do you? Well, two things. First, I’m going to get that internship and I’m going to do it by working hard. Second, you are a complete moron who was honestly only okay in bed. So screw off Neal, get off your high horse and start living in the real world before shoves you off.” A few snickers sounded, from the ones who overheard their conversation. She strode out of the house with her head held high.  
\---  
She called a cab once she was out of sight of the house, telling it to take her to the nearest electronics store. In her red party dress and heels she made her way through the store to the laptops section, giving a few men she passed heart attacks. Looking over each laptop she studied the features, the prices, and looked up reviews to see which was best. She made her choice, and the brand even had a pink laptop. She grabbed it and headed to the register. While she was standing in line she heard a throat clearing from behind her. 

“I have to say, love, you’re the best dressed person here. Do you often do this to go shopping?” She turned and Killian Jones stood behind her. 

“Don’t ask.” She groaned. 

“Well, there go all my plans.” He smiled and then changed the subject. “Good computer choice Swan. That one can pretty much do anything you’ll need it to do for school, I was unaware they came in that particular shade.” 

“I haven’t gone crazy enough to get a boring one yet.” She shot back. 

He shifted the basket in his hand. It had a pair of headphones, a usb port and some batteries. She realized that he wasn’t carrying them in both hands, as he could have easily done, because he was missing his left hand. She tried not to stare when she realized it, her minding wandering to what could have possibly happened, knowing that it would be overstepping the tentative friendship forming between them. Maybe one day they would trade stories, but today was not going to be that day. They bantered back and forth in line for a bit, Emma pushing her mind away from the missing hand and back to the conversation. 

“If I’m going to tell you why I’m dressed like this, I’m going to say you owe me a drink.”

“Do I?” One of his eyebrows rose, dammit how was that so attractive.

“Yes, or maybe I owe you a drink considering the favor I’m about to ask.” She admitted. 

“Color me intrigued.” He responded. 

They paid for their items and walked outside. They headed towards the dorms and she told him the whole story of the party, the confrontation with Tamara, and what Neal had said. He laughed at her dig and added that he thought that was the perfect way for her to handle it. 

“Though I wouldn’t have minded seeing you in a sexy bunny costume, Swan.” He tried to wink, failing miserably and cementing her growing attraction to him. 

“So what I wanted to ask, if maybe you would tutor me? Help me to study so I can get this internship and shove it in their faces?”

“Oh aye love, I do love a good revenge plot. Mind you, I would have helped you without the party that will go down in history. Now I’m just that much more invested. And Swan, don’t think I’ll forget about that drink.”

She smiled at him, they talked, laughed and all around made it the best night since she had come here. By the time he walked her to her dorm she knew she had just made a new friend, and as she watched him walk towards his own apartment off of campus, she thought that maybe there was a little spark there, something that she had never felt with Neal or any boy really. Emma was nowhere near ready to acknowledge the spark, but she knew it was there. For now, that was good enough.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! It's been way to long since I posted, medical and family issues got in the way for a bit. So it's a few days till my birthday and I promised my self that for my birthday I would write another chapter of this, and when I started writing I actually wrote three more chapters! So now I might actually post a few weeks in a row! Any way, I hope you all enjoy the chapter!

The next few months seemed to fly by, Emma was studying every moment of every day, Henry was right by her side, though she had him watching soap operas rather than studying law. She knew that she could prove Neal, and everyone that doubted her, wrong; It would take a lot of work and focus, but she could do it. Killian was a lifesaver, they met at least three times a week to study, and somehow that turned into Saturday movie nights and Sunday morning breakfasts as well. Honestly, next to Mary Margaret, whom she saw for regular manicure sessions and weekly lunches, he was her best friend. They had a lot in common from tragic backstories they had yet to share, to same music and movie tastes. She was sure she couldn’t have made it through all of this without him, it would be weird not seeing him when she went home for winter break.

Her favorite day so far had been when she was in Professor Humbert’s class discussing procedures for preparing a case.

“A claim has been filed and you are preparing your case. What is the first thing you need in order to continue the process?” Professor Humbert looked around the class, eyes landing on Emma. “Miss Swan, care to answer?”

Emma’s heart pounded, she could feel her hand begin to sweat and a bead of panic grew in her belly. She knew the answer, the question was whether she could say it without her voice shaking.

“You need evidence.” She answered as confidently as she could muster, there was a tinge of a question in her tone, but she thought she did better than she had thought she would.

The Professor nodded and then encouraged her. “Meaning?”

Oh shoot, she didn’t answer it fully. What was she supposed to say? It was something about support right? Or was it a whole other thing. She got the first part right, she could do this. She just needed to breath through the panic and answer. Oh hell, what if she got it wrong. Everyone here already thought she was a joke, they didn’t need to have confirmation. That’s why she hadn’t been speaking up much. Okay she really needed to talk now. It was talking to long for her to answer. She opened her mouth.

“Meaning you need a reasonable belief that the evidence would support your claim?” This time she couldn’t keep the questioning tone from making a full appearance. Her anxiety was at a full time high. Henry, who came to class with her and sat in her bag at her feet, leaned against her legs for support. There was a pause as the class and the Professor took in her answer. Then he smiled and nodded.

“Well done Miss Swan! Now class…” He continued talking but she had tuned it out. She did it! She had answered the question right, she had gotten both parts right. The rest of class seemed to rush by, she was out of class and in the next one quickly, still reeling from the fact that she had done it. After classes for the day she dropped Henry off at her apartment and texted Killian to meet her at the Rabbit Hole, she got there a little early and was practically bouncing in her seat.

“Swan!” Killian called as he entered the bar. He made his way over to her with a smile. “Your text sounded quite excited, love.”

“You could not tell that from the text.” Emma scoffed.

“Maybe not,” He admitted, his smile not dimming in the slightest. “but I could see you grinning from the entrance Swan, so I think I’ll stick with you inviting me here for good news.”

Emma grinned. “I was called on in class and gave the right answer.”

“Fantastic!” Killian cheered. He sat down, ordered, and insisted she tell him the whole story. Asking for arbitrary details and teasing her the whole way. “I believe we’ll need to toast your victory!”

\---

They talked and drank for the next couple hours, keeping the talk away from school after Emma had finished her story, wanting a bit of a break from Law. Emma felt a pleasant buzz after a few drinks, deciding that switching to water might be best. Killian had the same thought, ordering a couple glasses for both of them.

“Time to switch to something much less inhibiting.” He announced, a tipsy leaning toward drunk grin on his face. “Now I believe this is the part of the night for tragic backstories love.”

Emma felt a knot in her gut begin to form, she didn’t know if she was ready for this, but at the same time she felt she could trust him. Maybe she would let him go first and keep her side as vague as possible.

“Alright Captain!” She found out that he had had that nickname in high school being the Captain of the school’s soccer (It’s football Swan!) team. “You first then!”

He smiled softly and sat back, he was probably going to regret this in the morning, but what was a few secrets given to Emma? Maybe he would just stay away from talking about how much he liked her, how he was fairly sure that he could easily fall in love with her, if he was half way there already. How strong he thought she was, and how much she had grown since coming here. If he was being honest with himself, he definitely couldn’t mention how he had never thought he would get over his first love, be able to move on, until he met her. No, best to stay away from all of that, he couldn’t bear to scare her off.

“My life most certainly isn’t that interesting Swan. But I’ll give you the run down anyway.” He threw back the rest of his water as if it were the rum he were so found of, wishing briefly for the burn of alcohol to help. He spoke of the small town in Ireland he was born in, of his older brother Liam and his mum. He told her about his mum’s illness and how she passed away just after he had turned 8. His no-good bastard of a father, leaving Liam and him in the middle of the night, just a few months after, never coming back.

Emma could here in his voice how much he loved Liam as he talked about how his 17-year-old brother took care of him, raised him, fought for custody of him and moved them to America as soon as he was 18 and had full custody of Killian. He talked of his brother joining the American Navy, of moving often but never worrying about that, as he had his brother with him. He spoke of his desire to join the Navy, enlisting on his 18th birthday, wanting to make his brother proud. He grew somber when he talked about Milah, an older woman he had begun a relationship with when he was 20. He talked of her with love and a longing in his eyes that gave Emma an unwanted twinge of jealousy. He spoke of how he had found out Milah was married, but separated from her husband, a prominent lawyer a few states up, telling of how lonely she was. Their relationship had grown and Killian admitted just how in love he was with her, then it all fell apart. There was a training accident, a bomb that should have been disabled, Killian was too close, Liam was closer. 4 men lost their lives, Liam included, and Killian lost his hand, most of the movement in his arm, and the last of his family. The pain in his voice was nearly unbearable for Emma to hear, but she listened, she sat and listened to all of the pain. To Milah rejecting him in favor of exploring the world as soon as her divorce was finalized, to him finding comfort only in his drink.

Then she could hear hope, the hope as one of his friends dragged him out of the bottle and cleaned him up. They helped him find a purpose again. One of the friends being Professor Graham Humbert, who helped him find his passion in Law. Now at nearly 30 years old he was in his last year of his graduate program with offers from a few different firms and finally in a good place. Finally he could see the light at the end of the tunnel, he had said as he had stared intently into her eyes.They sat in silence for a moment, Emma had never heard someone with as sad of a backstory as his, and yet he seemed so happy and optimistic all the time, it was hard to reconcile the two pieces of him she had now seen.

“Well you certainly underplayed the interest in your life Killian,” She said a last, figuring teasing him would help the melancholy she saw in his eyes.

“Well, maybe it’s because I’ve lived it, but it’s not the worst life there is Swan.” He responded, smiling slightly. “I believe you now owe me a story.”

She began her story, she had meant to pass over the details she preferred not to talk about, being left on the side of the road, while not her fault, was still something that shamed her. Her adoptive family giving her back when she was 3 because they got a real child was also painful. But she began to open up to him, she told him everything, talking about Ingrid changing her life, and even Neal’s assholishness. Then she told him her biggest secret, how much she loved law school and felt like she fit here, that maybe, as scared as she was to admit it, she could see a future here. When she had said that last line she had stared at him hard in turn. They laughed and talked for what seemed like hours, about nothing and everything at the same time. Bonding in a way she had never done with anyone before. When the bar had last call, they made their way into the chill of and autumn night. Killian walked her to her dorm opening the door with a flourish.

“Your home milady, safe and sound as promised.” His exaggerated bow making her roll her eyes and laugh.

“Thank you, Captain.” She grinned as she preforming a small curtsy.

Maybe it was the way her hair was shining like the sun as she laughed, or her eyes sparkling like emeralds when she rolled her eyes, but it made Killian want in a way he hadn’t in a long time. So, he took a chance.

“Ah, but is that all your safe return home is worth to you Swan?” He raised his eyebrow and tapped his lips softly. Her eyes narrowed a slight smile graced her face.

“Please,” Emma scoffed. “you couldn’t handle it.”

He moved closer to her, they were inches apart and he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. “Maybe you’re the one who couldn’t handle it.”

She lost her breath for a moment, staring into his ocean eyes, then moving to his lips. She moved quickly, grabbing his jacket and yanking him into herself. Their lips met in a clash of want and need. She let herself go for a moment, throwing everything into the moment with him. It was everything she had hoped it would be, and more. Then reality set in, she couldn’t do this now! She couldn’t get involved in something when she was still finding herself, not when she had come so far. She tore her lips away from his, letting her forehead rest on his for mere seconds, listening to their mingled pants.

“That was…” Killian began, his voice now rough with want.

“A one-time thing.” Emma claimed, stepping back and facing the door. “We never mention this again. We can’t.”

As she moved inside her dorm, she heard his soft reply. “As you wish.” And felt her heart beat quicken more, but she kept going.

\---

Emma was terrified it would be awkward, that Killian would avoid her or they wouldn’t be the same as they were before. To her everlasting relief, when she saw him two days later, it was almost like it had never happened. Almost. She felt more aware of him now, noticing the way he moved to be closer to her, the way he leaned forward when he talked. She noticed the blue in his eyes brighten when he was happy, they darkened when he was talking about something he was passionate about. He scratched behind his ear when he was nervous, and she found it utterly adorable. Occasionally he would run his had through his dark hair, messing it up and making it fall over his forehead, this happened when he was tired or frustrated. She noticed to much, she knew it, but the kiss had changed everything, and she couldn’t help but file every little quirk away in her mind, and she hated how much she loved all of them. NO, not loved, she couldn’t love. Like. Like was better, she would go with that.

Time moved on, she completed her first semester and went home to spend time with Ingrid for winter. Grateful to be back in the warmth, she spent most of the time outside by the pool updating Ingrid on everything, Henry curled in a ball next to her, also enjoying the sun. Christmas had just passed two days before, she had two weeks before the next semester started up, and she was outside relaxing with Ingrid. The sky was a brilliant blue, reminding her of a certain blue-eyed law student back east. She wasn’t sure what he was doing for winter break, they hadn’t texted since the end of the semester, that was mostly her fault as she had told him how busy she would be (an obvious lie he had let pass). Realizing how much she missed him had been unsettling to say the least, and now, with her thoughts filled with him, she couldn’t resist.

E:_ Hey, hope your winter break is going good._

K: _Swan! I was hoping you would call, I guess text in this case, at some point over the break!_

E: _Yeah, I was just thinking about school starting soon and wanted to see how you were._

K: _No need to be modest Swan, it’s okay to admit that you were thinking about me ;)_

E: …_Did you really just wink at me through text?_

K: _Indeed! I can’t very well do it in person right now can I? My break has been going good, I was at a good friends home for Christmas, now it’s just catching up on studies for my final semester. How about yours love, is California treating you and Henry well?_

E: _I guess winking through text might be better, seeing as you can’t do it in real life any way. _

K: _Swan! I am hurt!_

E: _Uh-huh, I totally believe you… My break has been good, mostly just relaxing with my mom, it’s nice to be somewhere warm for Christmas._

They texted through the rest of the day, just talking, and it was nice. Every time he texted it brought a smile to her face, she really enjoyed having him to talk to. He asked about her day, he asked about Henry. And the dog in question had taken a liking to Killian as well, a good sign.

“So, who’s the boy?” Ingrid asked out of the blue, sipping her tea and keeping her eyes on her book.

“There’s no boy!” Emma said, thinking to herself that Killian wasn’t just a boy, he was most definitely a man… Nope couldn’t go down that road. Ingrid simply raised her eye brows and waited. Henry let out a bark at Emma, she looked at him and was sure if he had eyebrows they would be raised as well. Emma was never good at keeping secrets from her mother, so the whole story spilled out rather quickly. Ingrid listened then gave her advice.

“Darling, the man sounds smitten, what are you waiting for?” Causing Emma to sigh.

“I just don’t want to rush into anything mom, look at what happened with Neal! I don’t want that to happen again.”

“Neal was a completely different story, he was immature, didn’t listen to you, only talked about himself and was definitely not the one for you. This Killian sounds like he cares about you, listens to you, and helps you. You have to take a chance on love sweetheart.” Henry barked in agreement.


End file.
